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DOJ Announces Funding Opportunities For Tribes and Tribal Consortia

ICTMN Staff

12/30/13

Federally recognized tribes throughout the United States have another avenue to improve law enforcement and crime prevention throughout reservation communities.

On December 20, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the opening of FY 2014 Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation, a comprehensive grant solicitation for funding to support public safety, victims services, and crime prevention by American Indian and Alaska Native governments according to a DOJ press release.

“Over the past four years, more than $437 million in much-needed assistance has been provided to American Indian and Alaska Native communities through the Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation,” said Associate Attorney General Tony West. “These resources are helping to strengthen justice, hope, and healing in tribal communities and are supporting efforts to intervene in the lives of at-risk youth, prevent violence against women, improve community policing, and explore alternatives to incarceration.”

CTAS is a cooperative effort by the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, and the Office on Violence Against Women. According to the DOJ, “funding can be used to enhance law enforcement; bolster adult and juvenile justice systems; prevent and control juvenile delinquency; serve victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and elder abuse; and support other efforts to combat crime.”

The DOJ FY 2014 CTAS took input from tribal leaders during consultations and listening sessions, from written comments from applicants and grantees, and from a specially developed assessment tool that was used to obtain information about the application experience.

CTAS applications should be submitted through the DOJ’s Grants Management System online. The system enables grantees to register and apply online. Registration must be done no later than Tuesday, March 4. Application deadline is 7 p.m. EST on March 24.

Tribes or tribal consortiums will be able to submit a single application; they can select from nine competitive grant programs that the CTAS refers to as Purpose Areas. The process, the DOJ states, “allows the department’s grant-making components to consider the totality of a tribe’s overall public safety needs.”

The nine purpose areas are:

-- Public Safety and Community Policing (COPS)

-- Comprehensive Tribal Justice Systems Strategic Planning (BJA)

-- Justice Systems, and Alcohol and Substance Abuse (BJA)

-- Corrections and Correctional Alternatives (BJA)

-- Violence Against Women Tribal Governments Program (OVW)

-- Children’s Justice Act Partnerships for Indian Communities (OVC)

-- Comprehensive Tribal Victim Assistance Program (OVC)

-- Juvenile Justice (OJJDP)

-- Tribal Youth Program (OJJDP)

The DOJ still encourages tribes and tribal consortia to explore other funding opportunities. Additional funding information may be found at www.grants.gov or the websites of individual agencies.